Around the World Fragrance Suggestions

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RevolutionSoap

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I'm getting ready to do a collection of soaps/lotions that are based on the 7 major continents. There are so many people here from all over I was hoping to get some help. Here is what I have so far. I'm stumped on a few and I'm open to suggestions for the ones I have as well. As well as any suggestions for exfoliants or other cool additives.

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Is north America to include the USA? To get something that encapsulates the essence of both the USA and Canada might be difficult, but as as outsider I would say Pumpkin Spice - because that's not something anyone else in the world has. We use pumpkin as a vegetable. There is no such thing as 'pumpkin spice' available here as a condiment but I understand what it is.
In the UK - I was a huge mulled wine fan in the winter time - this is generally made by adding juice and spices ( similar to your pumpkin spice) wiht red wine - nom nom nommy!
For Europe it gets tricky - but maybe it could be something to do with wine? Think french wine, or Italian wine - champagne or prosecco. Champagne and berries? Or you could go Mediterranean Fig? I think wine and/or fruit might be good given that you don't have anything fruity oil your collection as yet.
Australia - Gum trees, eucalyptus, tea tree? Or think red earth - what scent could go with that? Maybe use red clay and sandalwood ( you can get Aussie sandalwood) with tea tree?
 
Big task ahead of ya. It's hard to distill an entire continent of diverse countries, landscapes, and cultures into one scent.

For North America, while there are great mountains and forests and tropical islands, what is jumping out at me as something that is unique to North America would be a cactus fragrance. Cactus blossom, agave, aloe, etc. Cacti are in South America, too, but when you think of a cactus you tend to have a very specific concept in mind of SW US/Mexico 🌵 Aloe juice as a water replacement?

For South America, one thing that always reminds me of my time there is the smell of passionfruit. Ah, just thinking of the smell brings me warm flashbacks of sitting with a cool glass of fresh juice in my hand. Guava is a good one as well. A completely off the beaten track idea would be chocolate. Ecuadorian chocolate is divine. 🤤 Or dulce de leche... ooh. Additives could be Brazilian clays, cocoa butter.

For Asia, a tall order. I think Coconut Lemongrass is okay as it invokes some SEAsian dishes. My experience is with living in an EAsian country, so I'll still give my thoughts. Green Tea is always a classic. Sakura FOs tend to behave badly, sadly. Yuzu, ginger, nashi pear, plum blossom, goji berry, chrysanthemum, jasmine. Additives can be rice water or if you're feeling fancy, fermented rice water (super easy to make~)

For Europe, hnnn. Honestly, I just think of bread. I'm so sorry Europe. Every time I visit you, I just eat too much bread, meat, and cheese. 🤣Lavender, rose? Lemon? Olive? Additives... beer? French green clay?

No Africa journeys from me (yet!), but Moroccan Mint is a solid choice. Spearmint and black tea is a divine scent combination, too. Orange/clementine? Myrrh, sandalwood, amber? This is where you definitely should lean into the shea butter usage. Baobab powder? African Black Soap crumbles?

Haven't been to Oceania, either, so I'll let KiwiMoose keep the podium on this matter. But you could throw our dear Kiwi a bone and add a little honey for New Zealand 😉

Wow, while I was searching out of pure yearning curiosity to see if someone out there made a milk tea fragrance, I found this website that has FO categories for different regions/cultures. Might be a good place to snag some ideas or even a FO. omg I have FO envy right now just looking at their inventory. I hope these are actually good quality for soap🤣
 
Big task ahead of ya. It's hard to distill an entire continent of diverse countries, landscapes, and cultures into one scent.

For North America, while there are great mountains and forests and tropical islands, what is jumping out at me as something that is unique to North America would be a cactus fragrance. Cactus blossom, agave, aloe, etc. Cacti are in South America, too, but when you think of a cactus you tend to have a very specific concept in mind of SW US/Mexico 🌵 Aloe juice as a water replacement?

For South America, one thing that always reminds me of my time there is the smell of passionfruit. Ah, just thinking of the smell brings me warm flashbacks of sitting with a cool glass of fresh juice in my hand. Guava is a good one as well. A completely off the beaten track idea would be chocolate. Ecuadorian chocolate is divine. 🤤 Or dulce de leche... ooh. Additives could be Brazilian clays, cocoa butter.

For Asia, a tall order. I think Coconut Lemongrass is okay as it invokes some SEAsian dishes. My experience is with living in an EAsian country, so I'll still give my thoughts. Green Tea is always a classic. Sakura FOs tend to behave badly, sadly. Yuzu, ginger, nashi pear, plum blossom, goji berry, chrysanthemum, jasmine. Additives can be rice water or if you're feeling fancy, fermented rice water (super easy to make~)

For Europe, hnnn. Honestly, I just think of bread. I'm so sorry Europe. Every time I visit you, I just eat too much bread, meat, and cheese. 🤣Lavender, rose? Lemon? Olive? Additives... beer? French green clay?

No Africa journeys from me (yet!), but Moroccan Mint is a solid choice. Spearmint and black tea is a divine scent combination, too. Orange/clementine? Myrrh, sandalwood, amber? This is where you definitely should lean into the shea butter usage. Baobab powder? African Black Soap crumbles?

Haven't been to Oceania, either, so I'll let KiwiMoose keep the podium on this matter. But you could throw our dear Kiwi a bone and add a little honey for New Zealand 😉

Wow, while I was searching out of pure yearning curiosity to see if someone out there made a milk tea fragrance, I found this website that has FO categories for different regions/cultures. Might be a good place to snag some ideas or even a FO. omg I have FO envy right now just looking at their inventory. I hope these are actually good quality for soap🤣
NZ always gets forgotten :(
We are very different to Aussie in terms of climate, landscape and 'signature scent'. But yeah - Manuka honey is pretty much a NZ thing. Technically we are not part of a continent - rather a geographic area known as either Australasia or Oceania (the latter of which includes the polynesian islands).
When thinking of the geographical area though - Australia, being the only continent, should take priority I guess, which is why I suggested the sandalwood/red earth thing. Putting manuka honey in an Australian soap would not be a good idea - it adds to the sense of identity loss we already feel when considered by the rest of the world as being 'part of Australia' or 'an island off the coast of Australia'. Many of our internationally famous people are said to be 'from Australia' - however I will note that some of them, according to this source are not from NZ at all - notably Sam Neill and Anna Paquin.
 
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NZ always gets forgotten :(
We are very different to Aussie in terms of climate, landscape and 'signature scent'.

Putting manuka honey in an Australian soap would not be a good idea - it adds to the sense of identity loss we already feel when considered by the rest of the world as being 'part of Australia' or 'an island off the coast of Australia'.
Yes, I agree that calling it an Australian soap would be bad if it includes something from NZ. It would have to be Oceania, but I think a lot of folks don't use that term or know what it means or know that there are countries beyond just Australia and New Zealand in it.

I do think this is one of the difficulties of this concept. Each continent is so diverse in its offerings and in the cultures that live there.
 
Yes - Australia and Antartica are possibly the only two continents that are all 'one scent' if you will. The others are hard to encapsulate with just one scent given the diversity within each continent. But you could think about a scent that also fills a gap in the range ( fruit, floral, spice, woods, ocean, etc) - so while I went to pumpkin spice for North America - I also like the maple syrup/butter idea from @Saponificarian. Also possibly salted caramel, tobacco, bourbon etc?
It might be worth considering doing two soaps for each continent? That way you could capture a bit more of the essence of each?
 
@KiwiMoose two soaps?!? I'm starting to second-guess my reasoning for doing even one at this point. :)

I just thought this would be a fun way to be a bit creative with my products. I think my customers will find it fun and interesting... I hope. I appreciate all the suggestions and will finalize my choices (if I pursue it) by the weekend.
 
Don't let us scare you! It's a fun idea 😁
Maybe you could do it as 1 country from every continent! (Which gives you an excuse to come back and make more fun country-inspired things later 😉)
 
NZ always gets forgotten :(
We are very different to Aussie in terms of climate, landscape and 'signature scent'. But yeah - Manuka honey is pretty much a NZ thing. Technically we are not part of a continent - rather a geographic area known as either Australasia or Oceania (the latter of which includes the polynesian islands).
When thinking of the geographical area though - Australia being the only continent should take priority I guess, which is why I suggested the sandalwood/red earth thing. Putting manuka honey in an Australian soap would not be a good idea - it adds to the sense of identity loss we already feel when considered by the rest of the world as being 'part of Australia' or 'an island off the coast of Australia'. Many of our internationally famous people are said to be 'from Australia' - however I will note that some of them, according to this source are not from NZ at all - notably Sam Neill and Anna Paquin.
Side squirrel from the topic…. I loved reviewing the people on the list in your link, @KiwiMoose! I love Bret and Jermaine of Flight of the Conchords and appreciated the fun review 🌸
 
Still been working on this and decided thanks to all your wonderful feedback to not do continents but just do countries. I don't know why I pigeonholed myself into that thinking. It certainly made it harder of a task. I have a couple of follow-up questions.

@KiwiMoose would it be terrible to use a honey FO? Getting manuka honey isn't cheap. But maybe it's worth the price to just try it (taste) anyways. And I love the idea of a beer soap for Germany. Also, I'm glad to have Googled that one of my favorite bands (Crowded House) is actually mostly from NZ. I was worried I had that wrong.

@basti does SEasian point to any certain country? I was really looking for an excuse to just use that Coconut Lemongrass FO. I'm a FO horder/collector. :) and maybe Passionfruit Nectarine from WSP for a South American country.

I think I'll use Old West from MMS for a USA soap. Also mostly because I already have the FO.

I just think this will be a fun project for me and hopefully something fun and unique for my customers. Thanks again for the comments and suggestions. And my wife would love a wine soap...so maybe France is taken care of :cool:
 
I decided that YES I need to use real manuka honey. That's really the point of this for me. To reach outside my comfort zone and try some new things, new ingredients, and new recipes (beer soap). Amazon has some decent prices unless someone else has a suggestion.
 
Still been working on this and decided thanks to all your wonderful feedback to not do continents but just do countries.

@basti does SEasian point to any certain country? I was really looking for an excuse to just use that Coconut Lemongrass FO. I'm a FO horder/collector. :) and maybe Passionfruit Nectarine from WSP for a South American country.

Glad we could be of help!

You could get away with Thailand, as Coconut Lemongrass Curry is a Thai dish.

I've never smelled Passionfruit Nectarine but the combo sounds lovely. Passionfruit is all over SAmerica so I think it just depends on what other inspiration you want to put into your soap as to what country specifically to choose. Maybe a Brazilian passionfruit mousse with an white/orangey yellow ombre and a layer of brighter orangey yellow on top with black sesame seeds filling in as passionfruit seeds 👀
 
We have passionfruit and nectarines here in NZ too! We have a passionfruit vine growing on our back fence and I'm just noshing down on a nectarine right now - one of my favourite fruits!

I don't like manuka honey so much for eating on my toast - much prefer a pale clover honey myself.

Agreed with Basti - when you said coconut lemongrass my mind went straight to Thailand.

Nag Champa for India?
 
I decided that YES I need to use real manuka honey. That's really the point of this for me. To reach outside my comfort zone and try some new things, new ingredients, and new recipes (beer soap). Amazon has some decent prices unless someone else has a suggestion.
Our Costco has Manuka honey. I don't recall that it was that much more than the raw local honey that they carry, but I'm sorry I don't remember the exact price.
 

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